Hard Labor Creek Golf — Attraction in Madison

⛳️ Blade Brothers Golf Course Review: Hard Labor Creek

📍Hard Labor Creek State Park, GA 📝 Course Review by: The Commissioner (Edward Jackson Jr.) 🗓️ Weather: Blue skies, Georgia heat, no mercy

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Course Vibe:

Nestled inside a scenic state park, Hard Labor Creek is where you come to test your iron game and sweat out all your lies from the night before. The fairways roll like Southern church announcements—long, winding, and full of unexpected turns. It’s peaceful out here, but don’t let that fool you. This course got teeth.

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Fairways:

Smooth but firm like a firm handshake from a deacon who ain’t forgot you owe him $20. The fairways are generous in width, but positioning matters. You’ll need to pick your landing zones with care or you’ll find yourself blocked out by Georgia pine trees that ain’t moving for nobody.

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Greens:

From the photos, the greens look immaculate and well-maintained, but beware. These ain’t your mama’s carpet greens. Depending on the hole, you could be dealing with a sneaky slope or a slick roll, especially if it hasn’t rained in a few days. They roll true—but not necessarily easy.

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Bunkers & Layout:

That greenside bunker in your first two pics? She’s sitting like a trap queen—low key, but deadly. Miss your approach by a few yards and you’ll be digging out of trouble. And the layout? From the tee in the last pic, it’s clear this course gives you room—but also asks: “Do you trust your line or nah?”

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Course Personality:

Hard Labor Creek has Southern charm and championship teeth. She’ll smile at you with pine-lined fairways, then slap your scorecard if you don’t respect her greens.

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Final Grade:

Blade Brothers Grade: B+ (for now) With the right crew, some cool drinks, and a hot putter, this course could easily become a Saturday staple. Just don’t come out here cocky—this ain’t Topgolf, baby. This is Hard Labor, and they mean every word.

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Suggested Blade Brothers Rules for This Course: • Keep the carts on the path near greens—you’ll need the extra steps to cool down from that triple you just made. • 2-putt maximum rule on sloped greens—unless you’re trying to be out here until the mosquitoes come. • Honor Rule: Any man who says “this course ain’t that hard” after double bogeying twice owes the group a round of drinks. Psst! Unless your group has some low single digit handicappers I recommend playing from the White Tees or for the 4 most difficult holes have everyone play from the White Tees on those holes. Otherwise, get ready for some high scores. Only 1 player in our group broke 90 & we have several single digit handicap players. This is a HARD / EASY golf...

Ok golfers, I am excited to finally let you know that Hard Labor Creek is on a come back. I played there last weekend for the second time since the greens have been redone. I want to let you know that they were in the best shape I have seen since 20 years ago when I worked there. The fairways had grass as good as any course I have played lately. It looks like they finally hired a superintendent with some knowledge about grass. Hands off too the crew. My only concern about the greens is that they were slow and firm. I can only hope with time the grass will start to lay down and not stand up so grainy. Again if you haven't played here in a while you better go now, because when people find out, its going to get busy. One other thing pace of play is a little slow in the afternoons. The good ole boys come out late to play.

April 2025 So it has been about a year since my last visit to Hard Labor and wanted to let you know the latest on condition of the course. The course is in great shape lots of grass everywhere and well-kept fairways and rough. The greens are coming along with a few exceptions. It is time now for the greens keeper to start speeding up the greens a little. Have a good time playing here but bring mallet or a heavy putter to get the ball to the hole. One other thing, it's time to upgrade the...

Fantastic course. It features a great variety of holes that aren't tricky and fun to play. The greens are not that receptive on approach shots so choose a club that allows the ball to land a little shorter and roll to the flag. With that being said the greens are in FANTASTIC shape. They roll true and I got some rain (a lot) before my round and they were at a medium speed so with no rain I could see things getting hairy quickly. The people who play here fix their ball marks for sure and the greens reflect that respect for the course. The course is not that long so if you have a little 240 ball off the tee you won't have too hard of a time. Number 10 SHOULD be the number 1 handicap hole for sure. 17 is easy and does not earn the number 1 handicap moniker. I digress, for 40 dollars to walk 18 for such a well kept and scenic course I will drive the hour from Atlanta with no hesitation again. If I lived in the area I would pay that 650 yearly fee for unlimited walking greens fees for if this quality was just 30 minutes closer to the metro, it would be triple the...